The Importance Of The Church: God's Kingdom Among Men!
There is no need more urgent on our planet than that apostolic Christianity should be restored. Considering the desperate conditions that exist on this planet, that is a bold statement indeed! Can the establishment of a "religious organization" really be more important than the resolution of the world's desperate problems? Properly understood, the answer is a resounding "yes!" You see, if the churches were to enter into the Biblical teaching and obedience described in the fol-lowing chapters, she would provide a form of human society within which none of those wretched conditions mentioned above would ever need exist again!
Hear this, Christian: Christ in His church is God's solution to all human needs and problems, not just its supposedly "religious" ones! The thesis of this book is that within the society of the Church of Christ (and only within that divine society) there is such a solution: a solution that actually used to exist, and a solution that God intends to restore!
When the Kingdom of God is manifested on the earth, a visible society is created. As created by God, the church is that society of regenerated humans who have accepted Jesus as the divinely appointed ruler of the entire race of man. Her charter includes a demonstration of how the entire race of humans could function if they yielded to the authority and the Spirit of Jesus. His church is the sphere where God's plans for the "total man" and for every aspect of human society are accomplished. Indeed, His church is the true form of human society! - such is her call; such is what is necessarily implied in being "Christ's body", "a chosen race, ... a holy nation, ... the people of God."
